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En/countering disablement in school life in Australia: children talk about peer relations and living with illness and disability
- Author:
- MCMAUGH Anne
- Journal article citation:
- Disability and Society, 26(7), 2011, pp.853-866.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
This paper reports the experiential accounts of young people with physical disability or chronic illness as they made the transition to junior high school, with a particular focus on their social experiences with peers and friends. The participants were 24 young people, with a mean age of 12.4 years, with visible and physically limiting disabilities and health conditions including cerebral palsy, spina bifida, and cystic fibrosis. Their personal accounts were gathered in 3 interviews during the course of a year from late Year 6 to late Year 7. A total of 72 recorded conversations, amounting to more than 100 hours of communication, documented the transitional experiences of the participants. Children’s reports were examined in a reflexive, disability studies framework, in which commonalities and difference in experience were examined. The findings highlight a common experience of disability-related harassment and differential experiences of friendship, peer rejection and school culture. While children encounter and actively counter disablement in a variety of ways, it is clear that they are also cognisant of the stigma, prejudices and disabling expectations that are at the core of these experiences.
The impact of assistive equipment on intimacy and sexual expression
- Author:
- TAYLOR Bridget
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 74(9), September 2011, pp.435-442.
- Publisher:
- Sage
Despite the expression of sexuality being an important quality of life domain, it continues to receive scant attention from occupational therapists. The author describes sexuality as a holistic concept that involves more than the sexual act. She conducted conversational interviews with 13 people with motor neurone disease living in England, and 10 of their partners. The aims of the research were to: understand the impact of life limiting illness on the expression of sexuality and intimacy for people with MND and their partners; to understand the meaning of sexuality and intimacy for these individuals; and to identify recommendations for health care practice. The study employed Heideggerian phenomenological principles which value the subjective experiences of individuals and support the view that the researchers subjectivity cannot be set aside but must be accounted for within the analysis. The findings provide evidence for the value of touch in people's lives and shed light upon the impact that assistive equipment has on intimacy, sexual expression and maintaining emotional and physical connection between couples. None of the people interviewed had previously been given the opportunity to discuss these issues with their occupational therapist. The author suggests that there is a place in occupational therapy practice for discussing the value of emotional and physical connection for individuals in the context of any equipment provided.